NCYU Recent Graduates Drive Tractors into Venue at Graduation Ceremony to Symbolize Harvesting National Chiayi University’s graduation ceremony for the academic year 2016-2017 was held on June 6th at 9 a.m on the three campuses, including Lantan and Sinmin campuses, with live streaming. At 8:30 a.m., the recent graduates drove five tractors into the venue on the Lantan campus as symbols of “harvest,” leading the way for approximately three thousand graduates for a walk around the campus with NCYU President Chiou Yi-Yuan and top supervisors. It embodied the process from enrollment to graduation of every NCYU student, who has made strenuous efforts every step of the way before finally enjoying the harvest.

This year, five tractors and one harvester were drove by six recent graduates from the bachelor’s program of NCYU to lead the campus tour. The six graduates included Chen Jian-Yu, Yang Hong-Xuan, Shen Jun-Yu, Chen Zi-Han, Huang Yi-Ying and Hong Zi-Ting. Among them, Huang and Hong graduated with first- and second-class honors from the Department of Biomechatronic Engineering this year.

In his address, NCYU President Chiou expressed his gratitude to the guests of honor for their attendance, and delivered a good news to all. According to a latest survey by Global Views Monthly, this was the first time that NCYU made it into the top 30 among the nearly 150 public and private universities nationwide, which has demonstrated remarkable progress. In the “Top 100 Based on Word of Mouth” in 2017, NCYU ranked third as one of the educational institutes with the most beautiful campuses in Taiwan.

President Chiou expected that all graduates will cherish the time they have spent in NCYU, and remember that the teachers are always here to accompany them on their life journey. In an era of Industry 4.0, when artificial intelligence machinery is gradually replacing human power, they need to keep learning and updating themselves on the latest developments even after graduation. Since NCYU is and will be the harbor for the graduates, he encouraged them to “bravely pursue their dreams and put their talents to display.”

This year, an honorary doctorate in management was awarded by NCYU to Xiao Huo-Mian, President of Sunford Mfg.,Corp., who is the second distinguished figure who has been honored with the title since Vice President Vincent Siew. President Xiao was born and raised in Lioujiao Township, Chiayi County, and began making a living from fixing bicycles, which he learned by apprenticeship, after finishing his elementary school education due to financial constraints. At the age of 32, he passed an exam and was enrolled in the Department of Business Administration, Hosei University, Japan. At 40-some years of age, he obtained a master’s degree in business administration at University of San Francisco, United States, and set up the company from scratch.

In the wake of the end of diplomatic ties between Taiwan and the U.S., the country had been in a crumbling state. As the country was faced with a challenging international environment, President Xiao assisted the government in importing raw materials and products in bulk, which had helped stabilize and facilitate the development of Taiwanese economy. As an individual from the private sector, he not only helped maintain the relations between Taiwan and the U.S., but ensure food safety and peace for the society.

Throughout decades, President Xiao has been dedicated to the development and public good in the Chiayi county and city area. He not only helps lay the foundation for higher education and medical development in Chiayi, but is devoted to events related to local culture, education, art, academics and underprivileged groups. People from different circles hold him in high esteem and regard him as an influential figure for his unwavering devotion to social welfare.

According to NCYU, President Xiao serves as a chair professor at NCYU’s EMBA workshop, where he shares without reserve his business and management philosophy with the younger generations. He is also a member of the school’s advisory committee, in which he assists in school planning and development, and plays a part in laying a solid foundation of education for the next generation.

Also noteworthy is that Wang Hao, one of the recent graduates this year, was winner of the Sports Merit Award. At the 2017 edition of National Intercollegiate Athletic Games (NIAG), he finished on top in shot-put event for men, breaking the NIAG record set by Ma Zong-Yi from National Taiwan University 33 years ago.

Wang Hao mentioned that it was purely serendipitous when he first tried shot putting back at senior high school. At that time, he was a member of an athletics team who just did it for fun instead of trying to achieve anything by it. It was not until he studied in NCYU and did the weight training that he was surprised to see that he could actually accomplish something with shot putting. It was then he began working on the skills seriously, and, after winning some prizes that gave him a sense of achievement, his passion for it increased and continued strong. Now, it has become his lifelong goal. He was thankful to the NCYU athletics team for giving him the confidence and strength to make his dream come true.